Mayan Agriculture 
Joe McKenna
Senior Studies
Ancient Mayan Agriculture
Archeologists and anthropologists have recognized that farming and agriculture are a critical factor to the organization of complex societies. The Mayans were one of the first civilizations recorded to master and use advanced farming strategies. Research in ancient
Mayan agriculture has been focused and analyzed thoroughly in the Chan site, an ideal agricultural community that has been studied and researched for over thirty years (Chan, 3).
The Chan site is located in the tropical rainforest of Belize, where Mayan agriculture thrived for over two thousand years, spanning the major chronological periods of ancient Maya society: the Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic periods (Robin, 1).
Archaeologists and researchers who have conducted research at the Chan site have discovered that the Mayans used a variety of strategies and techniques to cultivate their crop, contrary to the belief that they primarily used slashandburn agriculture (Wyatt, 30).
Archeologists at the Chan site have found that the Mayans used strategies and techniques including raised fields, wetland agriculture and terraces to more efficiently produce food.
These techniques were used to maximize the use and efficiency of resources. Slash and burn agriculture involves the cutting and burning of plants in forests to create fields or terraces. A key environmental advantage that the Chan farmers were given, was that their tropical soil was of the highest quality in terms of agricultural purposes. By using the slash and burn method, farmers were able to clear forests rich in high quality soil in order to form terraces where they could begin communal farming. Researchers assume that these large terraces presence on the landscape coincide with their level of centralization.
In the swampy lowland areas of the Yucatán Peninsula, seasonal flooding, low soil fertility, and high water tables all made farming a challenge. The Maya
Senior Studies
Ancient Mayan Agriculture
Archeologists and anthropologists have recognized that farming and agriculture are a critical factor to the organization of complex societies. The Mayans were one of the first civilizations recorded to master and use advanced farming strategies. Research in ancient
Mayan agriculture has been focused and analyzed thoroughly in the Chan site, an ideal agricultural community that has been studied and researched for over thirty years (Chan, 3).
The Chan site is located in the tropical rainforest of Belize, where Mayan agriculture thrived for over two thousand years, spanning the major chronological periods of ancient Maya society: the Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic periods (Robin, 1).
Archaeologists and researchers who have conducted research at the Chan site have discovered that the Mayans used a variety of strategies and techniques to cultivate their crop, contrary to the belief that they primarily used slashandburn agriculture (Wyatt, 30).
Archeologists at the Chan site have found that the Mayans used strategies and techniques including raised fields, wetland agriculture and terraces to more efficiently produce food.
These techniques were used to maximize the use and efficiency of resources. Slash and burn agriculture involves the cutting and burning of plants in forests to create fields or terraces. A key environmental advantage that the Chan farmers were given, was that their tropical soil was of the highest quality in terms of agricultural purposes. By using the slash and burn method, farmers were able to clear forests rich in high quality soil in order to form terraces where they could begin communal farming. Researchers assume that these large terraces presence on the landscape coincide with their level of centralization.
In the swampy lowland areas of the Yucatán Peninsula, seasonal flooding, low soil fertility, and high water tables all made farming a challenge. The Maya